Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 19: In an unprecedented situation in the Legislative Assembly, all PDP MLAs excepting their Legislature Party Leader Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy Leader Abdul Rehman Veeri, were marshaled out of the Assembly on the directions of Speaker Mubarak Gul when they were protesting in the Well of the House. In the process of being marshaled out, PDP MLA and former Minister Syed Bashir slapped a Marshal twice .
Earlier during Question Hour, all PDP MLAs staged a walk-out in the Assembly twice-first demanding that Congress MLA and former Minister Shabir Khan, who has been charged with molestation charges by a lady doctor in Srinagar, should be restrained from attending the House. The PDP legislators including Ms Mufti and MY Tarigami (CPM) and Hakim Mohammad Yasin (PDF) also protested transfer of Investigating Officer (IO) of Khan’s case, SHO Shaheed Gunj police station, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din. Again, entire PDP walked-out in protest against unsatisfactory reply by Horticulture Minister Raman Bhalla on promotion of horticulture industry in Kashmir.
Apart from the PDP, Jammu based Opposition MLAs of BJP, NPP and JSM also staged walk-out in the Assembly twice-first seeking all rights for West Pakistan and other refugees and the second time for “biased approach” of Information Department towards the Opposition MLAs.
Trouble began in the Assembly when veteran PDP MLA from Rajpora in Pulwama district Syed Bashir, a former Minister, rushed towards Well of the House when the Speaker announced debate on the grants of Agriculture and Animal and Sheep Husbandry Ministries.
As Mr Bashir was raising his issue of ration shortage in Jagti migrants’ camp, the Speaker ordered that he should be marshaled out. However, he tried to defy the marshals and taking care of his age, the Speaker directed the Watch and Ward staff to remove him slowly. However, all PDP MLAs present in the House excepting Ms Mufti and Mr Veeri also trooped into the Well protesting the Speaker’s order to marshal out Syed Bashir.
Mr Gul directed that all PDP MLAs in the Well should be removed from the House.
As the Marshals were trying to evict the PDP MLAs, the latter grappled with the Watch and Ward staff and resisted their forcible eviction from the House. While the Marshals were pushing the MLAs out of the House, the legislators with full force resisted the attempt and in the process, Syed Bashir caught hold of the collar of a Watch and Ward member and slapped him twice. However, the Marshals succeeded in removing the PDP MLAs.
Ms Mufti and Mr Veeri staged a walk-out in the House in protest against the eviction of their all party MLAs.
Minister for Animal and Sheep Husbandry Nazir Gurezi, whose demands were to be debated in the Assembly, pointed out to the Speaker that a Marshal has been beaten-up by the PDP MLA. He said the Marshals were following the order of the Speaker and regretted that one of them was beaten-up by the PDP MLAs.
Deputy Leader of Congress Legislature Party Mohammad Sharief Niaz also said it was not good for the MLA to beat-up an employee.
The Marshal, who was beaten-up by the PDP MLA, has been identified as Assistant Supervisor Kamran Farooq.
Later, when Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir moved his grants for discussion, he urged the Speaker to call back the Opposition on the ground that the debate would have no meaning without the main Opposition party.
“Though the approach of the Opposition party is not Parliamentary, still keeping in view the Parliamentary democracy, the MLAs should be called back and allowed to participate in the debate,” Mr Mir said.
CPM MLA MY Tarigami also endorsed the demand for calling back the Opposition MLAs.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir also endorsed the demand for calling back the PDP legislators.
Speaker Mubarak Gul said earlier also he had spared the Opposition but they had repeatedly been trooping into the Well of the House, which was against the Parliamentary system.
“I have given a ruling that there would be no Zero Hour. Still the MLAs continued to raise the issues. I can’t stop the grants. Sometimes, I had to take hard decisions under compulsion though I didn’t feel happy, rather said, while taking such decisions,” Mr Gul observed and asked the Watch and Ward staff to allow the MLAs inside the House one by one.
The Speaker then left the House.
Deputy Speaker Sartaj Madni, who took the Chair, also directed that the PDP MLAs should be called back.
However, the PDP MLAs didn’t respond and stayed back from proceedings of the House. About 20 minutes later, the Deputy Speaker again called for bringing back the PDP MLAs. Saifullah Mir told the Chair that he had personally gone out and urged the PDP MLAs to return to the House and participate in the proceedings.
After this, the PDP MLAs came back to the House.
Later, Syed Bashir told reporters outside the Assembly that he was raising the issue of Kashmiri Pandit migrants from Pulwama, who have not received ration this month till now.
“I wanted to raise this issue in the Assembly, but the Speaker did not allow, saying it was not the Zero Hour. It was my responsibility as an Assembly member to raise the issue, but they did not listen to me. What is the use of this Assembly”? Mr Bashir asked.
He said that he wanted to make the Government aware about the scarcity of the food to them.
“This is shame for this House if we come here to eat food on token given by the House and not raise the public issue,” he added.
Earlier, as soon as the House proceedings began for the day, the Assembly witnessed protests by the PDP MLAs including Mehbooba Mufti over transfer of an Investigating Officer(IO) probing molestation charges against former Minister and Congress MLA from Rajouri, Shabir Ahmad Khan CPM MLA MY Tarigami and PDF legislator Hakim Mohammad Yasin were also on their feet protesting the transfer of SHO Shaheed Gunj police station Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din, who was IO in the case of Mr Khan. The Opposition MLAs described the transfer as an attempt to scuttle the probe and shield the culprits. They demanded that Khan should be restrained from attending proceedings of the House.
PDP chief whip Abdul Gaffar Sofi, who was allowed by the Speaker to raise the issue, alleged that first the Government allowed Khan to move freely for seven days and when he got the bail, the police officer was transferred. “This is irresponsible,” he lamented.
It may be mentioned that Khan had attended proceedings of the Assembly twice in the second sitting. However, he was not present in the House when the Opposition MLAs created uproar.
Engineer Rashid, who had also raked up the issue of Shabir Khan’s presence in the Assembly yesterday, was in the middle of the House demanding that Khan should be restrained from entering the House.
The Speaker told the agitated MLAs that the matter was subjudice and he would have to wait for the Court verdict. He told the House that the Government had taken immediate action on the molestation charges and the Minister had to resign.
PDP MLA and Javed Mustafa Mir shouted that the Minister shouldn’t be allowed in the House but the Speaker made it clear that he can’t stop Khan from attending proceedings of the House.
The PDP members held protests against the Government for scuttling the investigation in the case by transfer of the IO.
They trooped into the middle of the House seeking reply from the Government over the issue and also called for prohibition of the former Minister’s entry into the House till the investigation is on.
They were joined by CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami and Independent member Engineer Rashid in the demand.
Later, after 10 minutes of protests and Mr Gul’s request to observe calm and go back to their seats, stating it was a routine transfer, the PDP MLAs along with Mr Tarigami and Hakim Yasin staged walkout from the House.
Later, Minister of State for Home, Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo told the Assembly that the SHO Shaheed Gunj police station has been transferred as per the Election Commission’s guidelines that all those officers, who were holding the office for three years, should be shifted. He defended the transfer and said that it was a routine matter. He said the IO’s transfer was part of 38 to 40 transfers carried out to follow the EC guidelines.
Later, speaking to reporters outside the House, Mehbooba said that it is ridiculous on the part of the Government to transfer the IO at this point of investigation against the Minister.
“It is eroding the faith of people in these institutions by these type of acts. They tried to scuttle the investigation”, she said.
“The death case of National Conference (worker) Haji Yousuf against Omar Abdullah is in Supreme Court. The case of JKCA scam involving Dr Farooq Abdullah has almost been proved and there are other serious cases still pending against several Ministers”, said Mehbooba.
“Now the height of it is that a sacked Minister charged with molestation of a female doctor is coming regularly to the House. You are changing the IO of the case to save him. They have degraded the House. This is a hall of shame. I do not know what this Assembly can be called”, she added.
CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami demanded a credible enquiry and said that there should be no manipulation into the investigation against the former Minister charged for molestation of a female doctor. He demanded that a Committee can be set up for credible investigations into the molestation charges.
Independent MLA Engineer Rashid, who was twice marshaled out of the Assembly today in view of his protests in the middle of the House, demanded a ban on entry of the tainted Minister and said that the Government should not scuttle investigation by changing the IO of the case.
After being marshaled out first time, Engineer Rashid was allowed entry on the intervention of Higher Education Minister and former Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone. Mr Gul said Mr Lone should take responsibility that Engineer Rashid wouldn’t create trouble again. However, on being called back, Mr Rashid was again in the Well of the House and the Speaker ordered that he should be marshaled out.
While the PDP was protesting against Shabir Khan, surprisingly entire Jammu based Opposition especially the BJP, which happened to be main rival party of the Congress, maintained complete silence and didn’t utter a word.
This prompted Mehbooba to say that the BJP was adopting double yardsticks on Tarun Tejpal and Shabir Khan. She said while BJP highlighted the case of Tarun Tejpal, who is in jail, it was completely silent at both Centre and State, on Shabir Khan.
During PDP’s protests on Shabir Khan, the BJP, NPP and JSM MLAs raised the issue of West Pakistani refugees.
NPP leader Harshdev Singh said no steps have been taken to grant right to refugees. The packages announced for the refugees have also remained on papers, he lamented.
JSM MLA Ashwani Sharma charged the Government with treating the refugees as second class citizens and demanded that their all issues should be addressed immediately.
BJP Legislature Party leader Ashok Khajuria and Jugal Kishore also supported the demands for conferring all rights to the refugees.
NPP MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia was near the Well of the House supporting the cause of West Pakistani refugees.
After about 12 minutes of protests, the BJP, NPP and JSM MLAs staged a walk-out in the House shouting slogans like `Refugees Ko Dokha Dena Bandh Karo, Bandh Karo’ and `Refugees Kay Maslon Ko Hal Karo, Hal Karo’.
All PDP MLAs led by Ms Mufti again staged a walk-out in the House in protest against “unsatisfactory reply” of Horticulture Minister Raman Bhalla in response to a question of NC MLA from Poonch Aijaz Jan.
Even Mr Jan was no satisfied with the reply of Mr Bhalla saying no steps have been taken to boost the horticulture and the Minister was not explaining the names of persons given mini tractors for horticulture purposes.
The PDP MLAs while staging a walk-out said the Government has kept no provision for horticulture in the State plan. The horticulturists were not being given power sprayers and mini tractors, PDP MLA Abdul Rehman Veeri said, adding the marginal fruit growers were suffering. He said 30 lakh people were involved in horticulture directly and indirectly and the Government was least concerned about their welfare.
PDP MLA Nizam Bhat was also shouting before staging a walk-out saying the Government was not paying adequate attention to the horticulture industry.
After the Question Hour, PDP MLA Rafi Mir said the some replies of the Questions were not reaching to the media for publication.
NPP leader Harshdev Singh charged the Information Department with being biased toward Opposition by issuing press statements of only the Ministers and ignoring the MLAs.
The Speaker clarified that there has been no direction from him to stop replies. He said the Assembly Secretariat was being modernized and linked with net and shortly the MLAs and media would get online replies. He clarified that there has been no direction to filter the answers.
Alleging discrimination by the official media, the MLAs of BJP, NPP and JSM staged a walk-out in the House.
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